As the 2013 marching band season is underway the Marshall County Marching Marshals are proving their spot at the top of the board.

“The kids have worked hard and put a lot of time in, I’m happy they can see a reward from it,” Joel Roberts, assistant band director, said. The band earned the title of grand champions at the 2013 Graves County contest and earned second in their class, third overall at the Madisonville competition.

The theme for the Marching Marshals this year is “Rise of the Machines.” The music as well as appearance and performance complement the theme each year.

Each competition is graded by six judges. Sixty percent of the routine is based off of music and the remaining forty percent is based on the visual performance.

The Marching Marshals are lead by band director, Ronnie Payton, and assistant director, Roberts. Many other leaders assist the band throughout the season though.

Mandy Alanda, coach of the colorguard, stated “We all create one balanced unit.”

“We’re a very young band,” Roberts said. The band, which has around 75 members, has more sophomores than juniors and seniors combined. “We’ve grown so much in the last year,” Roberts added.

The Marching Marshals will perform on Sept. 27 at the home football game, as well as all remaining home football games. The next competition will be the Hopkins County Central contest on Oct. 5.

Following that competition will be the Bands of America contest in St. Louis. “I’m really excited for the kids to see the competition,” Roberts said, “We’ll see how we stack up.”

Bands of America is a regional championship with over 60 high school marching bands from across the United States. The two day event is being held at the Edward Jones Dome. The Marching Marshals will perform on Friday, October 18 in the preliminary competition. The top 12 bands are then selected to perform in Finals competition on Saturday night.

On October 22nd the MC Band Boosters will host “A Night with the Marching Marshals.” The performance will be at the MCHS football Stadium and is free of charge for the community. In addition to the performance there will be a chili supper and a silent action.